Ducane
This week was supposed to be another quiet one.
No calls. No courtrooms. No version of me that belonged to anybody else. Just water, sleep, and five days to figure out what I wanted next out of life for real.
I had already spent the first week off doing it right, according to Dr. Charles, who had also confirmed that my blood pressure was trending in the right direction.
I’d slept in most mornings for the first time in years.
Hit the gym when I felt like it, not because my schedule demanded it.
Even went house hunting one afternoon. I walked through three properties with a realtor and made an audacious offer on one I fell in love with.
The penthouse had served its purpose. But I was a man on the cusp of building the rest of my life the way I wanted it. Done pretending the bachelor life was all I wanted, when a kid running through the backyard chasing bubbles meant more to me than starting the entertainment division ever could.
I hadn’t figured out yet what any of that looked like, or who it looked like it with. Until now.
Skye Campbell was standing in front of me. In the flesh. I took her in, missing an earring and all. She was still the finest woman I had ever met. I stepped forward as she began to calculate the distance to the door.
I knew it was her without her needing to turn around.
Those white strands threaded through her curls always made her easy to find in a room, no matter which way she was facing.
My heart did what it always did when it came to Skye, which was too damn much.
I had been in love with this woman from day one.
A lot could change in that time. It had. But the feeling of being home around Skye hadn’t moved an inch.
She turned around with a composed face, professionally and impressively so, but her eyes gave her away for one second before she locked them down. Just that brief moment alone had me yearning.
I owed her an apology. I had no business saying anything other than I’m sorry, I’m an idiot, and baby, please give a nigga another chance in whatever order she needed to hear it. Instead, I went with what came out.
“Skye, damn, it’s good to see you.”
Stupid ass nigga.
She squared her shoulders. Those full lips were about to tell me the ship had sailed, but the slight cock of her knee said something else. I had known her long enough to know which one to believe.
“Mr. Simmons, thank you for flying with Premier Wings. Can I get you anything before we begin our flight?”
The practiced tone told me how she planned to handle this. Handle me. The joke was on her. I’d come for her once before. I was about to do it again.
“Have dinner with me. Tonight, when we land.” I watched her face stay exactly where she put it. “I owe you that much.”
She let the silence sit there before she answered, giving nothing away.
“You don’t owe me anything, Duca— Mr. Simmons.” Even and final. “Decisions were made. Keep the change.”
She bent down to pick her earring up off the floor. I got a full view of an ass I had literally bronzed. We used to be on some real dumb shit, but we were like that. I had missed it more than I let myself admit until approximately right now.
She straightened up and moved toward the door.
“I can’t accept that, Spot.”
Her whole body answered that name before she could stop it. She caught herself fast, but not fast enough. Not for me.
“I’ll be back with breakfast, Mr. Simmons. Enjoy your flight.”
“That’s really how we doing this? You can’t even look at me.”
“Mr. Simmons.” She turned back with her hand on the door frame. “You’re the one who claims to owe me. I don’t owe you a damn thing, not even a look. Let’s just make it through this flight.”
She sauntered off. I rubbed the back of my neck because she was stressing me the fuck out already. She always thought she could beat me at something. I always let her. She was going to find out quickly that wasn’t the case anymore. I hadn’t lost in a long time.
Fifteen minutes later, the breakfast cart showed up at my door. I stood with excitement coursing through me to find another woman named Lydia behind it, not Skye.
She smiled, and I hated to be an asshole, but this wasn’t the Premier Wings experience I wanted.
“Take it back,” I said before she got the cart fully through the door.
Lydia blinked. “Excuse me, Mr. Simmons?”
“No offense to you. I need Skye to bring it herself; you tell her I said that.”
She didn’t ask questions. Just turned the cart around and left. I sat back on the edge of the bed, shaking my head at her. She hadn’t changed a bit.
A knock on the door made me stand. Skye’s jaw was set to hell when she rolled the breakfast cart into the room.
“Nice try, Spot.” I kept my voice low when she got close enough. “Don’t send Lydia in here again. I want you. Are we clear?”
“Crystal. And since when do you get to want anything from me?” She pushed the cart past me into the suite, putting distance between us before she turned around.
“Stop playing with me.”
“I’m not playing. I’m trying to do my job, but you are hindering me from doing that with this cat-and-mouse game.”
“You don’t have to say a word. But I’m going to talk. I fucked up. I know that. I’ll never forgive myself for how shit went down between us, but at the time, I truly believed you wouldn’t have been happy either.”
“Please let me know if you’d like anything else. If you push this call button, I’ll be with you within a minute. We aim to please at Premier Wings.”
“Skye.” I let a little edge into my voice. “Cut the bullshit and look at me.”
Her eyes came up to mine. I took that and held it. Those brown eyes. I had missed them specifically, not just her, those eyes that always looked at me wanting more for me than to just be a Simmons.
I relaxed back against the dresser and gave her a second to catch her breath.
“Skye, please. One dinner.”
“Are you confused about what this is?” She tilted her head and looked at me like I had two heads. “I am at work. It’s just like you to make everything about you.” She paused. “Or what, you wanna chat about the idea that I wasn’t good enough for you. Is that the conversation you want to have, Duke?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth. You were never the problem, Skye.”
“Well, getting engaged to Bianca spoke loudly enough.”
“You know that was never real, Skye. It was never supposed to be.”
She swallowed but kept going. Too damn stubborn for her own good.
“Finally dropped your nuts, huh?” She clapped slowly with an incredulous look on her face. “Good for you, Ducane.”
The truth was, I had let down the best thing that had ever happened to me, broken the heart of the only person who ever let me be fully myself. I’d chosen my family’s expectations over us and couldn’t even see that through to the end.
She turned on her heels and walked out. I let her go. There was only one way to get through to Skye, and that was by letting her think she was the boss.
The turbulence hit before she made it three steps past the door.
The plane dropped hard.
She hit the wall, feet slipping, eyes wide. I was already there. My hand locked around her waist before she went down, her back against my chest, both of us catching our breath at the same time.
She didn’t move.
Neither did I.
“Aye, calm down. I got you,” I whispered with my hand resting over her racing heart.
I held onto her until the pilot’s voice came through the speakers. Even after seven years, my body hadn’t stopped reaching for her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. We are experiencing some unexpected turbulence. All crew, please be seated. Passengers remain in your seats with seatbelts fastened until further notice.”
The nearest seats were the two just outside my suite door, the ones Premier put there for exactly this. I steered her toward them without asking because there was no time to ask. We sat down. I reached across, pulled her belt across her lap, and clicked it before I did my own.
“Did you not listen to the instructions, Mr. Simmons? Always secure yourself first.”
She looked at my hands, then looked straight ahead with a smile.
The jet shuddered again. She grabbed the armrest between us. My hand was already there.
“One dinner, Skye.” My voice came out lowly because the corridor was small, she was right there, and I had just had my arms around her for the first time in a long time. Shit, she smelled so damn good. “That’s all I’m asking.”
She stared straight ahead. The jet steadied. The engine settled back into a quiet hum.
“One dinner.” She said towards the wall in front of her. “You don’t bring up the past, your father, and you don’t call me Spot again.”
“I can do two of those three.”
She cut her eyes at me. I almost smiled.
“No, all three. Nickname privileges have been revoked. Thank ya.” I shook my head. Always gotta be in control, although I’d already won.
“Fine. No nicknames, no pops, no past.”
The pilot’s voice came back, clearing the crew. Skye unhooked her seatbelt, stood, and smoothed her uniform over thick hips.
“Don’t make me regret this.”
She walked back toward the main cabin without looking back at me. I leaned back into the seat and let out a breath I had been holding since she walked through my suite door.